Abstract Reasoning

Find the right talent with an abstract reasoning test. Assess the cognitive ability of your candidates to identify top performers.

What is an Abstract Reasoning test?

The Abstract Reasoning Test is is one of the best predictors of a candidate's aptitude to comprehend abstract concepts. The test demonstrates a candidates current ability to understand an interrelationship between concepts. Abstract logical thinkers can combine many ideas under a higher level, to create the "big picture." When you need a candidate who can take conceptual ideas and transfer them into real-world solutions, or spot new trends as they emerge, you need a strong conceptual thinker. Conceptual thinkers are great at planning, organisation, delegating and creating systems.

Recruitment and HR Managers who use advanced cognitive testing can assess abstract logical abilities of candidates and make more reliable hiring decisions, predict the performance of candidates, and decrease employee turnover.

Organisations with successful hiring processes place emphasis on recruiting employees with the right ability and behavioural traits for a role. These organisations understand that robust psychometric tests help select top talent, increase employee retention and avoid high turnover.

When administered correctly, reasoning tests can significantly boost the probability of selecting the right candidate for a job.

Common uses of abstract reasoning test

The Abstract Reasoning Test is used widely among recruiters during the pre-employment phase of the recruitment process as it allows them to assess abstract logical abilities and predict the performance of candidates. The insights help recruiters to narrow down the talent pool quickly. Reasoning tests help to reduce recruitment costs and place candidates in the right roles using non-bias assessment technology. Skills such as logic, numerical reasoning or written comprehension are directly related to the high performance of specific tasks or functions in an organisation. Using cognitive ability tests in the pre-employment phase ensures you select high performing people who are more motivated and satisfied in their job role.

 

Make Secure Hiring Decisions

Robust reasoning tests help select top talent, increase employee retention and reduce turnover.

Benefits of abstract reasoning test

 

Assess Speed vs Accuracy

The speed-accuracy balance provides additional insight into a candidate's working style and predicts how they approach and overcome challenges. Abstract Reasoning tests analyse the accuracy and speed in which a candidate can interpret the relationship between a collection of objects.

Online Assessments

Abstract tests are easy to administer and are completed online via our cloud-based platform. Simply send candidates a link and an access code to complete the test. You will receive an automated report straight to your inbox within minutes of the test completion.

Benchmark Performance

Quantify the attributes of your top performers and create a baseline for confident hiring decisions. Compare your new hires against your top performers. Use the benchmark comparison to add a valuable tool when hiring and provide additional meaning to the results.

Predict job performance with an abstract reasoning test

Are you looking for someone with exceptional organisational skills who can think on their feet? Abstract reasoning tests assess abstract logical abilities and identify candidates who learn quickly in new situations. They can complete a quick analysis of a situation, solve the problem and understand the logic in them. They can connect unrelated matters to form a bigger picture. 

Organisations who utilise abstract reasoning assessments during the pre-employment process are 24% more likely to have a high performing and engaged workforce.

What does an abstract reasoning test measure?

The FinxS Abstract Reasoning Test provides insight and understanding of candidates' working speed and accuracy to understand the relationship between concepts and assimilate new knowledge into an existing mind frame. Abstract reasoning is the ability to identify patterns, logical rules and trends in new data and correlates with general learning skills, and can be quite easy to develop.

Someone who demonstrates strong abstract reasoning might ask questions such as "What are the similarities and differences between these concepts?" or "What does this concept fall under?"

Candidates that score highly in a test tend to quickly understand new concepts, ideas, connections and patterns of thinking, outside of their previous experience. High scoring candidates respond well to training and development in new processes and systems. Top scorers often bring a valuable 'fresh pair of eyes' to long-established processes or systems.

Abstract reasoning assessments provide reliable insights into a candidate's abilities, including:

  • Recognising similarities and differences in concepts and details
  • Ability to identify trends and patterns in data
  • Understanding how concepts relate to one another and how they fit into a broader concept
  • Integrating information to solve problems and create new systems accurately

A candidate who scores highly has the ability to:

  • See trends and identify deviations
  • Separate important information from non-important

A low score may result in:

  • Difficulties with identifying important facts from non-important
  • Focus on unnecessary details

What to expect during an abstract reasoning test?

The Abstract Reasoning section of the FinxS Reasoning Analysis test consists of 30 questions to examine a candidates analytical ability. The questions illustrate mutual relationships between entities via circles in different positions to each other. The candidate needs to decide which circle diagram best represents the type of relationship the entities have. 

Candidates are provided with a practice question so they can prepare and understand what to expect during the abstract reasoning test. Candidates can expect the the questions to increase in difficulty as they progress through the questionnaire.

How to prepare for an abstract reasoning test?

Practising sample questions is the most valuable thing a candidate can do to prepare for an abstract reasoning test. To increase their abstract reasoning skills, candidates need to pay close attention to the construction of the objects in an image, how are they placed? Do they overlap, is there a larger circle surrounding a smaller circle? Candidates should analyse the relationship of the entities and pick the image that best illustrates this relationship.

Candidates often struggle under the time pressure of the test. Once they become comfortable answering the questions, we recommend you simulate a practice situation where they time themselves. This will help candidates become comfortable while completing a set of questions under significant time constraints.

Predict Job Performance with
Abstract Reasoning Tests

Abstract reasoning test questions

In this test, candidates need to show their ability to draw assumptions and conclusions based on information supplied in the form of objects. Candidates complete the abstract reasoning test under timed conditions. They have a maximum of eleven minutes to complete up to 30 questions. Candidates need to explain the mutual relationship between the given categories by choosing the most appropriate diagram from five alternatives. 

For example, "Animals, cat and dogs". 

From their understanding of the relationship between the three categories, candidates need to select the best answer based on their knowledge.

Abstract reasoning test answers

You, the recruiter, will receive a report automatically from our cloud-based platform within minutes of the candidate completing the questionnaire. The report details the candidate's answers and provides an analysis of the implication of the score on the candidate's job performance. The report lists how long the candidate took and how many questions they answered in the given time frame. The breakdown of scores allows for analysis of the candidate's speed and accuracy. Recruiters can also compare the score to a benchmark population to examine the candidate's ability to others within the organisation.

    Next steps 

    The FinxS Reasoning analysis provides insight into a person's ability to actively and thoroughly collect, analyse, combine, evaluate and process information. The reports help organisations answer questions about their workforce including, 'Can your people think on their feet?', 'Are they good problem solvers?' and 'How quickly can they learn?'

    There is a direct link between high cognitive ability and an increase in job performance. The tests provide an overall cognitive ability score and help to predict which work areas a person may experience difficulty. Assess your candidates to identify those with strong cognitive skills who are likely to be successful beyond their role.

    Please do not use the FinxS Reasoning results as the sole criterion to make decisions about a candidate. Always consider many other factors, such as behavioural preferences, skills, attitudes, motivation, knowledge, education and experience that are not measured by this assessment.

    Discover our Range of Reasoning Assessments

    Numerical
    Reasoning

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    Understanding Logical Processes

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    Mathematical Logical Reasoning

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    Understanding
    Social Context

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    Verbal
    Reasoning

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    Visual
    Memory

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    Word
    Association

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    Spatial
    Reasoning

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    Start assessing your candidates today